Cooperation between Norwegian and Russian scientists on marine science in the Barents Sea dates back to the 1950s. Science, as well as the resource management it serves, has evolved dramatically since then. In terms of its substance, scientific foci and methods have increased substantially. Previously, research efforts targeted a few commercial fish species, whereas entire ecosystems and non–commercial ...

The European Commission’s recently published ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy seeks to facilitate a transition towards a sustainable food system. The strategy moves from a linear understanding of the food system towards a more circular view of the system’s complex interdependencies. Despite these laudable intentions, it does not follow the guidance of the EU’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors that the ...

Harvest control rules have become an important tool in modern fisheries management, and are increasingly adopted to provide continuity in management practices, to deal with uncertainty and ecosystem considerations, and to relieve management decisions from short-term political pressure. We provide the conceptual and institutional background for harvest control rules, a discussion of the structure of ...

The rapidly evolving ocean economy, driven by human needs for food, energy, transportation and recreation, has led to unprecedented pressures on the ocean that are further amplified by climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution. The need for better governance of human activities in the ocean space has been widely recognized for years, and is now also incorporated in the United Nations ...

Anticipating future changes in marine social‐ecological systems (MSES) several decades into the future is essential in the context of accelerating global change. This is challenging in situations where actors do not share common understandings, practices, or visions about the future. We introduce a dedicated scenario method for the development of MSES scenarios in a participatory context. The objective ...

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea was established in 1902 and is one of the oldest marine science institutions in the world. It has aged well – today it provides scientific advice for the management of the marine environment and the natural resources there to governments and regional commissions for fisheries and environment in the Northeast Atlantic. It has 20 member nations ...

The Arctic plays a central role in the Earth’s climate and an increasingly important role in international relations and politics. As the region undergoes profound transformation due to combined impacts of anthropogenic climate change and global economic forces, new questions of governance come to the forefront of debates about the future of the region. This primer provides an essential overview of ...